Greetings everyone, my name is Julie Masters and welcome to another episode of Inside Influence. In which I delve into the minds of some of the world’s most fascinating influencers – or experts in influence – to get to the bottom of what it really takes to own your voice – and then amplify it to drive an industry, a conversation, a movement or a nation.
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If I asked you to list all of the skills you learnt at school, what are some of the things that would make that list? For me, it would be things like the square root of a triangle – algebra – obviously being British – the bloody history of the Empire – and various fun facts about frogs.

Now the next question you can probably see coming… outside of the occasional hero moment at trivia… how many times have you actually found yourself using those skills?

Today’s conversation on Inside Influence is a second time guest. The first time I had the pleasure of speaking to him it was to discuss the universal challenge of ‘How to be Heard’. This time we wanted to flip the focus – and concentrate on the largest and most undiscussed part of that equation – our ability to hear someone else.

And it all came from one question he asked me during that original conversation. And it was this… how come – with all the skills we learn at school – the most fundamental skill – the one that’s the most likely to dictate the success of our relationships, careers, businesses and parenting – never gets taught. The art of listening.

Not hearing – which is something we do involuntarily. But the art of truly listening and processing the world of another human being.

Today I’m thrilled to welcome back Julian Treasure. Founder of The Sound Agency and author of ‘How to be heard’. Julian’s five TED talks have been watched more than 80 million times. His latest, ‘How to speak so that people want to listen’, now in the top 10 TED talks of all time. He is also regularly featured in the world’s media, including TIME Magazine, The Economist and the BBC.

Today we dive into the deep deep world of listening including:

The difference between listening and hearing. Listening = position of curiosity
The circle of influence… why the way I speak impacts the way you listen – and the way you listen impacts the way I speak.
The four C’s of conscious listening
Our relationship to silence – how most of us either jump on it, fill it or retreat from it – and why how we deal with it is often the key to gravitas.
The four leeches that suck the power out of communication – and how to avoid them
And how to hear the people around you with fresh ears – by avoiding falling into listening autopilot – ‘I know how this is going to go…’

For anyone that wants to go even further into both Julian’s work on listening – and how to speak so that you are heard – he also has a new course called ‘How to speak so that people want to listen’ on his website speaklistenbe.com. He’s given me a sneak peak and I can promise you it will change the way you approach every single piece of communication in your life.

So – usually I would pick a subset of people that I think this podcast would resonate most with – but this one is for everyone, everyday. So let’s start now. Turn off the distractions if you can, settle in with a curious mind – and dive into a world where our ability to stop talking long enough to listen – will literally dictate the quality of every single one of our relationships – and every single one of our results.

Enjoy my conversation with the sound master himself – Julian Treasure.